The Long Road Ahead
by kymchee
Summary: Sean McLoughlin, a wrestler fresh out of the indies, is ready to take on the world in the WWE. Only problem is that his past seems to want to come back and haunt him.
1. I Hate It

**Name: Sean McLoughlin**

 **Entrance Theme: "Know Your Enemy" by Green Day**

 **Signature Move: Superkick, Top Rope 450, Missile Dropkick**

 **Finishers: Coup de Grâce, Sharpshooter, Boston Crab**

 **Height: 5'9"**

 **Weighs: 195 lbs (Cruiserweight)**

 **Trained By: Finn Balor, Kalisto, Natalya**

 **Allies: Finn Balor, Sasha Banks, Bayley, Sami Zayn**

 **Enemies: John Cena, Kevin Owens, Big Cass, Natalya, Becky Lynch**

 **From: Athlone, Republic of Ireland**

 **Favorite Wrestler: Jeff Hardy**

* * *

I felt fear, an odd feeling for me to have. I never was scared to wrestle, but today was different. I was heading up to NXT for some "extra practice". I honestly hated that full grown talent such as Finn Balor, Sami Zayn, Becky Lynch, even I, had to "freshen up" down here in developmental. I was getting ready for a match against Sami. We were friends, but I wanted to just head back to the indie circuits back in Athlone. It felt close, even though its over six-thousand kilometers away. "Hey! Sean!" A voice yelled. I looked over to see Becky calling. I knew what she wanted to talk about: my accent. I hated having to talk to other Irish people how they always asked about my accent. It had mostly left, but I could force it back when I needed or wanted to. "What do ya want?" I asked uninterested, my accent exactly the way it was before I lost it. She stared me down, as if she were a bloodhound. "What are ya starin' at?" I asked, being very stern. "Oh, nothin'. Just seein' if you sold out to an American accent," She said. "I don't have enough fucking time for this," I said. I left almost the second I said that. "You're running 'cause you're a fucking phony!" She yelled. I turned on my heels, suddenly fuming. I dropped the accent, starting to not honestly care about it. I wanted to say something, but prevailed to just let it go for now, I had bigger fish to fry. I walked up to the curtain, right behind Sami. "Hey," He said, a lot less enthusiastic than normal. "You okay, Sami?" I asked. For once I felt as if the locker room meant something to me, and I hated coming to Full Sail, it just didn't feel like a place to hold a wrestling event in. He looked up, finally choking out a "Yeah" to me. His music hit, him running out and all over. This was his favorite part of the night most of the time, being he gets to just see the crowd and how ecstatic the place was. I came out from behind the curtain, eventually, doing my little song and dance.

* * *

For most of the match, I was dead tired, but Sami pushed me through it. He would tell me what move was next, how to sell it, or even just to simply reverse a move. It was weird having someone else run the match for you, but that's because the indie circuits were silent as all hell. In the end, I put a Sharpshooter on Sami, forcing him to tap. I walked back to the locker room, talking to no one, not even while in there. People might think I'm just being an asshole, but I just like my space.

I left the university, waiting on a few friends. Finally, a group walks out. In that group was Finn, Bayley, Sasha Banks, and Sami. "Took you guys long enough," I said sarcastically. "Well maybe you shouldn't have left the show early," Sasha said nastily. "Its not my fault that the place is just so uninteresting sometimes!" I yelled. "Lets just leave," Finn input. "Fine," I said. I pulled out of the parking lot, and we were gone.

The car ride was filled with Sami endlessly (and likely) drunkenly hitting on Sasha and Bayley. "You know, you're the prettiest lady in NXT," Sami whispered, cupping Sasha's face. Apparently, I was the only on to hear it. I looked in the rear view mirror, seeing Sasha blush heavily. I pulled into the hotel parking lot. We scurried into the hotel, heading up to Finn and Sami's hotel room. "Sami?" Bayley asked. He was knocked out drunk. "Just throw him on his bed," Finn told us. We left him on his bed, moving onto Finn's. It felt weird to be in a place with other people, let alone their apartment. "Sean, you seem a bit lost. You okay?" Someone asked (I couldn't tell who). "Huh? Yeah, fine," I quickly said. I couldn't focus.

"Did you see Bex tonight?" Finn asked eagerly. It was a part of my past I wanted to leave there. Finn, Becky, and I all met at Finn's old wrestling school back in Bray. I'd be lying if I said that Finn and Becky, then Becky and me, were more than friends at one point or another. I didn't know she wrestled here as well as Finn. Well, tonight I did. I hated talking about her, let alone hear her name. "Why do you wanna know Finn?" Bayley butted in. "'Cause us three go back," He told them. She was fucking perfect, though I would never admit it. Perfect life, perfect move-set, perfect boyfriend, even a perfect body (something else I'd never admit). "Yeah. It went terribly," I said, not facing them. "Why? Tell good ol' Finn what happened," He joked. "She was one of two people I talked to the whole show. And I hated that I had to see her," I started. "Wait. Why do you hate Becky?" Bayley asked. At this point, I looked more at Sasha laying down with Sami rather than the people in the conversation. "Haven't ya seen her?! She fucking perfect!" I yelled at her, "Perfect life, friends, even in a relationship," I said, sighing and laying back on the bed. "Wait. Relationship?" Bayley continued to ask. "Yeah. Her and Finn 'ave been goin' out for almost five years now," I said. Finn took on a dark hue of red. "An' look at me. Second rate, hated by almost everyone, and just unwanted," I said, starting to get ready to leave. A knock came from the door. As I went to answer it, I put my shoes and jacket on. A call for Finn came from the other end of the door. The second I realized it was Becky, I opened the door and stormed out.

* * *

"What the hell is his problem?" Becky asked, "Anyways, I was wonderin', ya wanna head out to the bar?" Finn hesitated for a moment, but decided to go with her. "But what about movie night?" Bayley asked. "Sorry, Bay. Just tell the others that we'll just skip it for the night," Finn said, dashing off with Becky.

* * *

I was getting ready to just call it quits in WWE, but Finn, Sami, and Bayley kept pushing me to continue. I heard a knock on the door. Obviously, Bayley was here. "Where the hell are Sasha and Sami?" I asked, dropping the accent. "Probably fucking each other senseless from what I could guess," She joked. I saw it on her face. She didn't want to be here as much as I did. "You okay?" I asked, a bit afraid. "No," She said, a frown coming across her face, "I have an issue." I stood there surprised. She had a problem? I had much worse probably. "What is it?" I asked, as eager to know as Finn was earlier. "I've just been having a lot of *ahem* relations recently," She said, tears starting to well in her eyes, "And to make things worse, I've been steady with Neville and doing all this behind his back. Just tell me I'm a slut or whatever," She said, turning around and letting herself cry. I turned her back around to pull her in for a hug. "What the hell Bayley?!" I heard Neville yell. I backed away from Bayley and let the two talk. "I thought I told you to stay away from them!" He continued, "I guess I need to discipline you, don't I?" He threatened. Neville took her and slammed her up against the wall, holding her up by the throat with ease. He raised her so she was eye level with him. I flinched as he brought a hard slap to her face. I wanted to stop him, but who knows what he could do. I watched as he laid slap after slap on her. I eventually snapped, rushing over and throwing him to the ground. I signaled for her to run, as I grabbed his neck. "Leave her alone or there be a shit storm coming yer way," I said, letting him run free. I slammed the door shut and locked it. I rushed to her laying on my bed. I quickly pulled her into my embrace, hearing her heavily breathing and felt tears on my cheek. "Shh, shh. Its all good," I said in a failed attempt to comfort her. People never relied on me, they're usually pretty smart. But Bayley, she was different. She chose to be around me without anyone else. I didn't know how to react, no one's ever come to me for help.


	2. I Love You

The next morning, she was out cold. A knock came on the door followed by a call. I rushed to the door, opening it to see Finn. "Finn? What the hell do you want?" I asked, slapping back on the accent. "I was wonderin' where Bayley was, she wasn't in the room with the other two," He responded less worriedly. "She's in here with me, how was your night with Bex?" I asked. Her name came out more bitter than I expected, and Finn jumped all over it. "It was fine," He scoffed, "An' why the 'ell do ya got a problem with Bex all of a sudden?" He said louder than before, his accent quickly became heavy. "She always had to one-up me in Ireland, an' now I'm not lettin' her," I yelled. "Well, I don't know what to say besides-" He ended his statement with a furious punch. I stupidly, and very quickly, hit back, a fight obviously ensuing. We were going back and forth until Bayley ran up, fear (tears in all honesty) welled in her eyes. "Guys, stop!" She yelled, hoping to break the two of us up. She started pushing us apart until... wham! She was nailed square in the cheek by one of Finn's punches. She tumbled to the floor, cupping her red cheek and letting the tears fall. I had only one way of reacting to this, and it ain't a good one. "What the bloody 'ell man?!" I practically screamed, "Get the fuck out of my room!" I ran to Bayley's aid, devastated I let the tensions rise to that level. "I am so sorry Bay, I should've never let myself do that," I said, not even being able to face her. "Its fine, the fact that Finn did this is what hurts," She said, the tears from her face stopping as she coughed and sniffled. Seeing her like this made me feel worse than I already do. I pulled her into my embrace, and I wished this was some wicked, twisted, sick dream, but it wasn't. I just wanted to hold her forever. Was I proud of what I've done? I sure as hell wasn't, but after, I get to hold her for as long as I'm able to.

 **Bayley POV**

I woke up alone oddly enough. Usually Sean was with me, but today, he wasn't. I slowly got up. I remembered exactly why I was here. I was just that stupid. I was around violent people, even cool headed ones such as Finn. He hit me. It kept ringing through my mind, how he and Neville had hurt me, Neville more though. "Bay. You still here?" A voice called as the door opened. I jolted at the voice, it was Finn's. Two figures walked into the room, putting down bags. "Bayley, get up. We brought food," Finn yelled. Sean was being too quiet, especially around me, though I know why he is quiet. I climbed out of his bed, nearly falling as I do so. The three of us laughed, finally seeming as if the incident never happened. "Finally, she's out of bed," Sean joked. Finn let out a chuckle before saying, "So _that's_ how hard you fucked her last night, huh?" He joked. We both had a bright shade of red come over our face. "You wish," Sean said, lightly pushing Finn, "Only you would want to know that." All three of us got back to dying of laughter once again. Now I know for sure all of this morning's tension was gone.

 **Sean POV**

I headed to the Performance Center with Bayley. We had finished up breakfast with Finn. For once he didn't pull up Becky, and I was grateful as all hell. The center was not at all crowded, only a few wrestlers here and there. Finn and Becky were two of those few, but we could probably avoid them.

 **One hour later...**

I was ready to leave. Training was really a bitch today, all the shit I enjoy doing was unavailable. Bayley was also just about done, tired of seeing Sasha with Sami. I waited for her to finish and I'm getting the fuck outta there. She came out a little while later, dressed in a baggy shirt and sweatpants. We headed back to the hotel, not really talking on the way back.

She wasn't looking at me even while in the room. "Bayley, what's going on? We haven't said a word to each other since this morning," I said, a worried look coming across my face. She turned around, tears welling in her eyes. "Okay, look. I'm a mess," She started, "I just don't get it." I was a bit confused, but I had to help her than to be silent. "What don't you get?" I continued to ask. "I don't get how you stay calm around all these couples and shit. Does it get to you as well, how they always have PDAs or shit?" She continued. The tears were almost rolling down her face, almost. "I've just seen the ins and outs of this game, its almost like a book at this point," I told her. "I just want to know what its like to be in love," She said, the tears finally rolling down her face. I wanted to help her. I pulled her in for a kiss, wanting so much more, but this was fine. I pulled away, only staring, eyes full of shock, yet also full of happiness. "Are you okay?" I asked, fully aware of her surprise and her glee. "I'm fine," She said, "It just was so sudden and... I... I loved it." I let out a sigh of relief. The look in her eyes had changed from shock to lustful. "Bay, get the look outta your eye. I'm not doing that," I said, putting a hand up to her shoulder. A knock that scared both of us had come, her quickly running to under the bed. I answered the door, my face freezing up at the site of Neville. "Where the hell is Bayley? I know she's here somewhere." He said, barging into my room. "Look, she ain't 'ere and that's that," I told him, a lot more bitter than I planned. "She's been all over town with you, and you're gonna claim she ain't here." I just wanted to show her how much more I cared, that the kiss was more than it was. I wish she knew that she deserved better than him. It sounds so douchey, but it was true. "I told ya she ain't 'ere, so she ain't 'ere," I said, blood nearly boiling. "I'll take you're word for now, now, that is," He threatened, walking away. I ran up and locked the door, calling out to Bayley. I heard a sob come from underneath the bed. I kneeled down and helped her out from under the bed. "Bay. You know I'd never let him find you," I started, "I love having you around too much to let him take you and hurt you. You're a great person, loving, caring, funny, and so much more that I can't even list them all down." I hugged her tightly. "You know I **love** you Bayley," I told her. She looked up, shock overtaking her face. "No, no, no. You're just telling me this, right?" She asked, genuinely surprised. "No. I was never joking about this. I really love you," I said, finally having her believe me. "No. I don't deserve this good. Charlotte and Alexa were right, I'm nothing more than some fan girl from California," She said, doubting and selling herself way too short. "They were never right, they tried to make you think you were worthless, and even if you were, you mean the world to me," I said, wanting to help her. She never had this push to be a champion, and it doesn't seem like she will soon. I want to help, but I can't. I'm just another mid-carder for now, and she's a top star, and to be honest, I don't deserve this good. "What has he done to make you this afraid of him anyways?" I asked. I feared the answer, but I needed to know. "He abuses me." That was the bottom line. He hurts her for his pleasure. "Why'd you let him?" I asked back. "I... I just knew w-what he wanted and let him have it," She sobbed, the tears rolling down her cheeks again. I pulled her tightly to my shoulder (she was either that tall, or I'm that short). I never wanted to hold someone as much in my life before, and I've had an actual girlfriend.


	3. We're Not Okay (I Promise)

5 months later...

Bayley and I were going five months strong, which surprised me. A feud had been going on around the locker room, men versus women. I didn't get wrapped up in that shit, along with Finn, Sami, Sasha, and Becky. We didn't believe one gender is superior to another, but Bayley, the little shits had her wrapped around their fingers. She was gullible, unfortunately. I've been going back to the apartment alone, they had fully gotten to her, were they happy? What do they want? I haven't seen my girlfriend for two fucking weeks! I ran over to Finn's place. He still had Becky, and Sami had Sasha. But me, I'm having panic attacks and mental breakdowns. Finn let me into his place, the others hanging around as well. "Whats the issue today?" Becky asks as soon as I'm in the room. "More breakdowns," I said, barely even able to stop twitching. I needed to talk to her, she calms me and I'm nothing without her. "Shes not leaving you, you're just afraid that she will," Sami butted in. I slowly rocked back and forth along the floor with my arms wrapped around my legs. I felt Becky's warm embrace, reminding me of our past. "The fucking l-l-l-locker room cha-changed her, not m-m-m-me," I said, feeling a panic attack coming. My breathing became heavier. I heard Becky calling everyone over in an attempt to help. I started to fall back, my vision going blurry.

The next thing I could remember was being in the trainers' room, lying on the bed being checked out. Bayley was here, I haven't seen her in weeks. I wanted to go and hug her right now, but I couldn't with these stupid panic attacks. After an hour of sitting around, I got up and went over to Bayley. She didn't seemed so happy to see me, but why? I swear if its those fucking girls who did this... ugh! "Hey, Bay," I greeted. "Don't talk to me. Don't call me. Leave me the fuck alone," She demanded. "Bay, what happened? What did I do?" I panicked. This isn't the Bayley I was in love with, nowhere near that Bayley. "Charlotte and Alexa, they told me what I needed to know. Your past, what you've done, how you tore through the women's roster back in Athlone," She said. I swallowed hard, how'd they know? Why do they want to ruin our relationship? "You're just gonna use me for your own pleasures then throw me away like those other girls, won't you?" She asked, the tears returned to her eyes. "Why would think that? Of course I wouldn't! I know my past isn't the greatest. My track record ain't the cleanest either. But I wouldn't change the anything about you or this relationship. You're perfect," I said, trying to cup her face to look at me, only to have her turn away. "*Sigh* Look, Sean, the two of us, its over," She said. She left as I stood there shocked. The words had stung like knives. I said nothing while I was in Full Sail, or after we left and headed back to the hotel.

I was dead silent. I went to Finn's room with the rest of our little group. I grabbed a beer from the fridge. I couldn't stop, I was downing them without a thought. It was awful, and I felt awful. "You're done with those for a while," Finn said, taking the half empty beer from my hand, "Why're you like this?" I could barely speak, let alone think. "I'll tell y'all tomorrow," I said through slurred words. I left and almost didn't make it back to my room.

 **The next morning...**

I felt like shit. The hangover hit like a train at full force. A knock came from the door. "Its open, too drunk to lock it," I yelled. Our little group came into the room, including Bayley. I mentally just commit suicide at my own stupidity. I had to talk about our break-up with her in the damn room. "So here ya go. Why the 'ell did ya drink like six beers last night?" Finn asked, more of a demand though. "Look, some problems between me and Bay, that's all," I said, hoping not to entice her. "Stop fucking lying Sean! I dumped you and that was that," She said. I could tell she drank the night away just as I did. "Bayley! You got piss drunk, didn't you?!" Becky yelled. "You didn't want to leave me at all, did you?" I asked/yelled. "You know how bad that feels? To just be someone's play toy," She yelled back. "What the bloody 'ell are ya talking about? I never did that to you. You thought I would do that!" I yelled, about absolutely nothing. I wanted to stop, but I couldn't. "Just leave me alone!" She screamed. She stormed out the room, heading off to who knows where. "No. Bayley!" Becky yelled chasing after her. I don't know what I'm doing anymore, she made me whole. I got a text. _Come down here. She needs you._ I could barely even talk to her, how do you expect me to help her? I headed to where Becky said to. And in no time, here I was. I hesitant to knock, did she even want me here? No. Becky's just trying to get us together. I knocked on the door, very hesitantly. Becky answered the door. I immediately saw Bayley bawling her eyes out. I didn't know how to feel about this. I wanted to go up and hug her and hold her, but she doesn't want me anywhere near her. If she wanted to talk she would come to me. I slowly walked over to her, not knowing whether or not if I'm supposed to be here. I kneeled down next to her, rubbing her back. "J-just fucking leave," She said, powering through the tears. I obeyed. My body wanted me to leave, but my mind didn't. Becky quickly pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry," Is all she whispered to me before I left.

How did this happen? I heard Charlotte and Alexa heading down the hall. I dashed behind a pillar that was near. "I can't believe that dumb bitch thinks she deserves anyone!" One of the two yelled. "And all it took was to blackmail the two Irish shits!" The other responded. Why'd they do this to anyone? I hated that I knew what happened, it made the whole matter worse. I let my friends get blackmailed so two bitches can break Bayley's heart. I waited for them to clear the hall, then got Finn and Becky head to the pub, bar, whatever the hell you wanna call it. "What the hell happened? Why'd you let Charlotte and Alexa do this?" I asked, not furious or anything, just a tad upset. They blushed heavily, looking everywhere but my face. I needed to know. No one messes with my friends, even me. "Okay, look!" Becky yelled, "Th-they kept on hurting Finn!" She yelled. "That's it? I heard them in the hotel. They were talking much worse," I said. The more I knew, the more dirt I had on them. "They wanted to know your past and messed with Bex, that's it," Finn said, avoiding any questions. I gave him a shit-eating look. "Fine. I'll tell you back at the hotel, just not 'ere in public," He said. And so we did. Had a drink or two, then headed back to the walked in the November chill, as some Americans would call this, "cold". The nerve right? But before I could continue my rant on America's weather, we reached the hotel. We got up in Finn's room, locking the door behind us. "I bought you drinks, now talk," I demanded. "Okay, sheez. Look, they would torture me," Becky said, the tears forming in her eyes. "More. We can get some dirt on them," I told her. "Th-they would take Finn a-a-and tie him to chairs and gag him with random shit they found. They would tie me to a bed or something and force me to watch them take him, right then and there," She said, tears rolling down her cheeks and onto her neck. "How so?" I asked. "They would suck and bite his dick, whip him with belts," As she said that, Finn rolled his shirt up to show marks left by the belt, "They just kept on going and going, and some would've said it was nice, but no. They kept on until I choked, give in to their needs. So I did, and gave them your story," As she finished, I pulled her into a hug. I said "I'm sorry," the exact same way she did to me.


End file.
